Prelims at Front Range League Championships good for one and all Indians

Mitchell, Wullink add to Loveland's state-qualifying total

By Mike Brohard Sports Editor

Posted:
05/10/2013 09:16:24 PM MDT

Nick Hatanaka
(Steve Stoner)

He heard the cheers, which Colton Mitchell took to mean he had done something good. What, and how good were still unknowns to him at the time.

The Loveland High School sophomore looked up at the board at the end of his heat of the 200-yard individual medley and a smile hit his face.

State cut. There was a quick glance up in the stands to find Dad and a thumbs-up that followed, but it what really sold him on the enormity of his swim was when he was greeted by his teammates back on deck.

"I didn't think I got it at first. When I heard all of them cheering, I knew I had it, but I wasn't sure how much I had gotten it by," said Mitchell, whose 2:05.40 was more than 3 seconds less than what he needed. "I was really excited to hear all of them cheering. I was really surprised, because I didn't think I'd get it by that much."

For Loveland coach Jim Nickell, Mitchell's swim -- which represented a drop of 5.32 seconds -- was not only the swim of the day for the Indians, but the swim of the preliminary round of the Front Range League Championships at the Veteran Memorial Aquatic Center. He jumped seven spots in the standings with the swim, launching him into Saturday's championship finals and a huge boost in points for the Indians.

It's those types of swims -- and Loveland had more than a few of them -- that the first day is all about. It was what Cooper Bowen, who heads into the finals as the top seed in the 200 and 500 frees, wanted to talk about. It had Ethan McNally, the top seed in the 100 free, pumped.

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"Colton making the 200 IM and Evan Wullink making the 100 breaststroke, those are two pretty darn good swims for us," Nickell said. "That takes us from nine boys going (to state) to 11, and that's what this day was about, making those state times. The guys who had their state times swam very, very well. They put in some great efforts."

True. Of the 11 events competed (diving starts Saturday) the Indians head into the finals as the top seed in 10 of them, the 50 free the only holdout (and Nick Hatanaka is second). In both the 200 free and 100 backstroke, Indians are seeded 1-2.

But for them, there is no room to improve, which made what Mitchell, Wullink and even Erik Trenary did all the more important. Wullink made the consolation finals in the 100 breaststroke hitting a state cut in the process, and Trenary qualified for the 100 butterfly finals fourth after being seeded 10th.

That's what made the 200 IM a nearly perfect swim for Mitchell. He was happy for himself, for sure, but what he did to help the team meant as much.

"It's all about the team," said Mitchell, who also returns in the butterfly after missing that state cut by .03. "It's about scoring in conference as well as going to state with my team, so that's about even."

Team, Wullink said, is also about cheering on others and allowing them to help you gather steam. He said watching Mitchell helped set him up for his own successes.

"It's quite a bit more than most people would think. That's why it's called a team, because everybody builds and feeds off each other," Wullink said. "If the first person does good, the next person does good and it's a chain where everybody gets better and better."

Nickell took care in setting up the lineup to give his team the best chance to win the team title, but his final entries were changed somewhat at the urging of Wullink. The freshman was going to swim the backstroke, but asked to swim the breaststroke. He just had a hunch he could hit the state cut, though Nickell wasn't so sure.

Now he is, because the freshman posted 1:05.36 to join the state roster and finish seeded 13th overall.

"It's very nice to prove him wrong," Wullink said. "I've been close, and it wasn't the fastest breaststroke time I've ever gone, but after swimming the 100 free and dropping 4 seconds, I knew I could do it, and I did."

There were no league records broken, but Loveland came close with its 1:36.84 in the 200 medley, a mark the Indians already own. Hatanaka did take down his city record in the 100 breaststroke with a 56.14, an All-American time that will help set the Indians up for a strong finish, with McNally and Trenary making it back.

Ryan Ball will be the top seed in 100 fly and back, and Pat Jones led the qualifying in the 200 IM. Jeremy Robberson and Jackson Buyers both have two championship finals swims, making it seven Indians who do. While they made gains on the day, so did defending champ Fossil Ridge, offering promise for a very tight finish. Loveland has 20 championship swims, six others in the two consolation heats. Fossil Ridge has 19 and 15.

"There's no doubt," Nickell said. "I think they're all proud of themselves, and they all should be proud of themselves today. They know they can follow up their efforts they had today with even sharper swims tomorrow."